


the right time

by voltory



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Falling In Love, Fluff, M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-04-29 12:33:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14472843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voltory/pseuds/voltory
Summary: When Lance steps through a portal he finds himself in the future. Keith finds him on the other side and does his best to keep everything Lance shouldn't know secret. And fails miserably.





	the right time

**Author's Note:**

> before anyone starts fighting me, this isn't going to be a romantic relationship between an adult keith and teenage lance. it's just going to be the three days of realizing stuff for lance.

"Someone has to go in," Pidge says quietly, pushing her glasses up her nose with a sniff. "For science."

"Not it," Hunk says immediately, poking his nose. Shiro and Pidge follow after him almost immediately, maybe out of instinct.

"Ah yes," Coran says, pressing his thumb against his nose. "Not It!"

"Not it," Allura replies, scratching the bridge of her nose. "What does that mean?"

"Looks like you have the honors, Lance," Pidge grins, her eyes glinting behind her glasses.

Lance purses his lips, crossing his arms as he stares at the soft glow of the portal. He hadn't responded to the game because he was distracted, sure, but there was also something else. Ever since the portal materialized in front of them in the middle of the control room, Lance had felt drawn to it. His body was itching to walk closer, fingertips twitching under his crossed arms as he tried to stop himself from reaching out to touch it. He could feel warmth coming from it, beckoning him closer, like sunlight warming up his cheeks.

 _But_ he's not an idiot. He's hesitant to walk closer. He doesn't know what will happen if he touches it. Maybe this thing is the corporeal form of some crazy spirit that wants Lance specifically dead. Maybe it's an angel coming to give him the superpowers he knows he deserves. Really, though, the possibilities are endless.

He jumps slightly when he feels a slight brush against his leg, looking down at Pidge giving him one of her encouraging soft smiles. He can't help but grin because even though she was being a little shit by trying to get someone to go inside she knew the fear Lance must be feeling. He jumped slightly in place, giving his entire body a shake, grateful he was wearing his paladin armor and had his bayard with him.

"Princess," Lance said, turning to Allura with a smile, materializing his bayard. "Should I leave this behind just in case I don't make it back?"

"Nonsense," Allura said to him, shaking her head, her earrings swaying with the motion. "You will indeed come back if you do not want us to go in after you. Take the bayard, Lance. It might come in handy."

"Wait," Shiro said suddenly, stepping in front of the group, lifting his hands in front of him. "We're really doing this? We're really sending someone inside? Because if we are then don't you think it should be me?"

"I don't think so," Pidge chimed in, leaning forward. "If you do that then you would be altering the outcome of our sacred Not It ritual. Something terrible might happen to you if you go in. Something not terrible might happen to Lance if he does. Besides, I'm getting the feeling that this portal is only going to accept the person that it came here for. If it's not Lance then the rest of us can try after."

"I think she's right," Lance said, scrunching his nose and putting away his bayard, stepping closer to the portal. Once he was close enough he reached out with his hand, widening his eyes as he watches his fingers disappear into it. But he felt no pain, knew his fingers were still there because he could still feel them curling. With a deep breath he stepped inside, shutting his eyes only briefly as his body made it through fully and he was steady on the other side.

"What the..." he whispered softly, looking around at the familiar hallway inside the Castle of Lions, wondering if it had just teleported him to the other side of the castle instead of the crazy things he had been imagining. "And it's gone." He sighs, turning back to look behind him to see if the portal was still there, huffing when he sees it's gone and he realizes he has to walk all the way back to the control room. "Great."

He smooths his hair back, leaning against the wall for support and with some relief because he seriously thought he might be stepping into his death, or behind enemy lines with no backup, or something crazy like an alternate reality. That had happened before when they found the crystal, it could happen again.

As he's about to push from the wall Lance hears footsteps, he tilts his head, eyes widening because there's no way any of them could have gotten to the other side of the castle so quickly. No way they would leave the control room like nothing happened when Lance had stepped inside. He was sure that they would all stick together to wait for him... and there's another thing. He doesn't recognize the pattern of this pace, can't pinpoint who it is. That can only mean one thing, someone infiltrated the castle.

"Lance?" a soft voice calls out, quiet and smooth, deep. "Aish, where he did run off to? He said he was going to take a nap, that fool."

Lance feels slightly miffed at those words but can't help but hear the fondness in them too and he backs up against a shadow on the wall, narrowing his eyes as he tries to pinpoint from where the voice is coming from. He's about to materialize his bayard in his hands, about to pull his gun so he can protect himself when he finally sees the person round the corner on his right. His eyes widen when he sees who it is but... it can't be. They haven't seen Keith in so long. Why would he be in the castle suddenly? Why would he be looking for Lance?

Their eyes meet and Lance can't do anything, frozen on the spot as he stares at Keith's features because even though he definitely looks like Keith, he also doesn't. Lance feels his stomach drop with panic as he looks at Keith's eyes, crinkles on the corner of his eyes that look like they're from smiling too much but that's impossible Keith should have eyebrow and forehead wrinkles instead from always frowning. His hair is the same length, still curling against his shoulders, a pink and purple tint on the very tips of it, a purple marking crawling from his neck all the way along the side of his jaw, touching against the corner of his lip.

Lance wants to reach out and ask how it happened but Keith stops just a few steps away from him, his expression switching from playful to pinched and cautious in almost a second. He stares at Lance through narrowed eyes, his eyebrows pulling together, the corner of his lips tilting downward and Lance has the brief thought that that's more like it. This is the Keith he remembers, even if he does look older, even if the lines of his face are different, even if his shoulders are broader and he's taller than Lance, and he has battle scars Lance doesn't remember but that's just an extra detail because Lance is sure Keith has a few marks that all of them don't know about. Scars from his time with the Blade.

"You weren't lying," Keith scoffs, crossing his arms, turning his head away before flitting his gaze back to Lance warily. "I can't believe it. I thought you were just teasing me."

"What?" Lance asks, his voice coming out squeaky, making him sound like a child compared to Keith.

Keith doesn't say anything, turning to look at Lance properly once again, his gaze flitting from the top of his head down to his feet. He reaches out slowly so as to not startle Lance, smoothing down the hair on the side of his head, a small smile curling his lips. It makes Lance's heart skip a beat, a flush spreading from his neck all the way up to his cheeks. He can't turn away, though, can't unfreeze himself and push from the wall and away from Keith.

"Come on," Keith says, pulling back his hand and gesturing with his chin for Lance to follow him. "We can't let anyone see you."

"Uh... why not?" Lance asks, stumbling after Keith when the latter gets a few feet away.

"I'll explain where we get to our room," Keith's quiet voice echoes, bouncing against the walls.

"Our room?" Lance says, his eyes widening.

"Yeah," Keith snorts, looking back to Lance with a grin. "You should stick with me until it's time for you to go back."

"Go back?" Lance mumbles, swallowing.

"We're almost there, just shut up for now. Pidge has a sixth sense when it comes to paranormal activity."

"Paranormal?! Am I dead?" Lance asks, eyes widening.

"Be quiet," Keith insists, stopping in front of a door and pressing his palm against the doorway, a soft lilac color glows along the middle before the doors slide open. Keith grabs Lance by his wrist, pulling him inside carefully, the door shutting behind them.

Lance pulls his hand almost immediately when the doors shut but it's not like it matters because Keith lets go just as quickly, moving deeper into the room, which is way bigger than Lance remembers their dorms being, to dig around a built in closet. Keith steps inside the small space and comes back with a simple white shirt and a fluffy looking pair of sweats.

"You can change in the bathroom," Keith tells him, pointing behind him with his thumb. "You won't be comfortable if you keep your armor on, and if I remember your babble correctly this is going to take at least three days."

"You're not making any sense," Lance says, clutching the clothes against his chest, looking around with panic. "I'm not going to change or... or do  _anything_ until I know what the quiznak is going on! I mean like... like what  _happened_ to you, dude? And why are you being so weird, and why do you look so _old_ , when did you even get back to the castle?" 

"I really didn't tell you anything?" Keith asks, his head tilting, he lets out an exasperated sigh as he drops down heavily on a chair next to the desk in the room. Lance looks at the surface of it and sees it messy with sketches and notebooks and what looks like a stack of photos. "Honestly when you came clean about everything last month I thought you were insane but I guess you could see it coming somehow."

"You're still not making sense," Lance points out, pursing his lips and leaning against the door, exhausted suddenly because he's confused and if this is some elaborate prank Pidge is pulling on him he's going to be  _so_ mad. "Can we just start from the beginning?"

"Sure," Keith says, pointing to the bed with a raised eyebrow. "You might want to sit down for this."

Lance hesitates, looking at the bed and scrunching his nose at the size of it. Since when were the rooms this big? Since when did they have their own bathrooms and closets. Pidge had really gone above and beyond with this prank. He can't believe Hunk is in on it as well. Hunk! His buddy! The only one who never keeps secrets from him. Keith doesn't move his gaze from Lance, however, watching him with an almost bored expression but Lance can see just a bit of interest sparkling in his eyes as well. He keeps the clothes tight against his chest, sidestepping slowly to the bed so as to not move his gaze from Keith and lowering himself slowly. He scoffs at how the bed sinks around him, comfortable even through his armor. He almost wishes he could just lay down and take a nap, deal with whatever is happening right now later. 

"What happened before you got here?" Keith asks, leaning back, his arms and legs crossing. 

"What do you mean?" Lance asks quietly, burying his nose against the shirt to try and hide himself from Keith's gaze. 

"I mean, what happened before I found you?"

"We were in the control room," Lance mumbles, his gaze dropping to Keith's one foot still planted on the floor, focusing on speaking to it instead because he can't help feeling a bit intimidated and nervous. "We were trying to figure out a plan to start sending out broader signals so we could get more people to join the coalition and then a  _portal_ appeared out of nowhere." 

"And?" Keith says quietly, prodding him to continue. 

"And we decided who had to go in by a game of Not It," Lance scoffs, biting his lip. "I was a bit distracted and lost. It's just... I felt like the portal was meant for me. I felt like it was calling me inside." 

"And you just did what it wanted you to do?" Keith says, laughing. "Typical."

"Uh, whatever dude," Lance huffed, looking up at Keith, his eyes narrowed into a glare. "This is just some huge prank anyway. I already know, I'm just following along with it because I know it's the only way out! I'm not going to be labeled as insane." 

"Lance," Keith says and Lance swallows around the lump in his throat. "This isn't a prank. You told me about it last month. Well... the you from this time at least."

"The who from when?" Lance asks, sitting up straight again.

"You're in the future," Keith says. "It was a time traveling portal. You hopped forward about... seven years I'd say judging the way you look right now. You're what, seventeen?"

"Yeah?" Lance says quietly, his fingers curling tightly around the clothes in his arms. "I think I'm still seventeen. Maybe eighteen soon? Time is weird."

"Yeah," Keith says quietly, nodding his head. "So seven years definitely."

"This isn't happening," Lance murmurs, laughing softly, nervously. "You're just messing with me, dude. It's so not funny. All I wanted to do was help make a plan and then go put on a face mask and take a nap. Then the portal shows up, I go inside, meet you, and now you're saying I  _time_ _travelled_? This is crazy." 

"But true," Keith says, shaking his foot. "Lance said it only lasted three days. We just have to be careful to make sure no one sees you. It might make them freak out, could potentially change the future. As long as you stay in the room and don't go around wandering we should be safe."

"What?" Lance asks, standing and glowering down at Keith. "Are you kidding me? You can't just expect me to stay cooped up? How am I going to eat? Or do anything to keep myself from going insane. Maybe I just tripped and hit my head and imagined I actually went inside the portal. This is probably just some messed up dream I'm having inside one of the healing pods. And now you're making the dream boring by saying I can't go anywhere?"

"Lance didn't--" Keith begins but Lance cuts him out, standing up and waggling his finger in Keith's face.

"No, no, no, no," Lance says, poking Keith's chest and narrowing his eyes at the impressive firmness of it. "Lance is right here, buddy. You're just making up stuff now trying to use the future me against me. Where is he anyway? Or should I say where am _I_?"

"God, I forgot how much I hate it when you do that," Keith mutters, shoving Lance's hand away from his chest and crossing his arms over his navel, his lips pursed outward in a pout that Lance definitely recognizes as  _so Keith_. "I don't know, okay? You...  _he_ said he was going to go take a nap and when I didn't find him in ou-- in his room I went around looking for him."

"Why?" Lance asks, ignoring Keith's trip over his words. 

"Why  _what_?" Keith asks him, rolling his eyes.

"Why did you go looking for him?" Lance says, snatching the clothes he had dropped again.

"I had a question," Keith says quickly, shrugging his shoulders. 

"There's something you're not telling me," Lance says to him, pointing with his finger as he backs into the door he assumes is the bathroom. "And I'm going to find out, buddy. Just you watch."

"Sure,  _buddy_ ," Keith says with a snort, making the chair swivel so he's facing the desk, his hands working quickly to stack up everything in it together. 

Lance feels better in the new clothes he's wearing, looking at himself in the mirror as he twists from side to side. The shirt is a bit baggy on him but he likes it that way, the softness of the sweats is something he hasn't felt in a while and he tugs at the string on them to make them a bit tighter on his waist as they begin to slip down slightly. Not only that, they smell good, and they look like they're totally his style. Which can only mean one thing if Keith has them and that is that Lance is such a great friend he bought Keith some comfortable clothes for him to wear for once. Once he's satisfied that the sweats he's wearing won't drop, and once he's managed to make the nerves that were buzzing in his body lull slightly he pushes the door open again. He catches Keith putting everything that had been on the desk inside a chest, watching as Keith runs his thumb against the edge of it, the chest glowing a soft purple before it clicks shut. 

"What are you hiding?" Lance asks, making Keith look up at him.

"Stuff you probably shouldn't know about," Keith replies easily with a shrug, standing and dusting his hands before he bends down to pick up the chest, walking it to the closet to shove it on the highest shelve inside. "If you find out how the war was won you might try to get ahead of it all and the outcome might be different. Best we keep that stuff off the topics we can talk about, don't you think?"

"We're going to win?" Lance asks quietly, his voice filled with awe as he stares up at the chest, his fingers twitching on his sides because now he wants to look inside so badly. Wants to know what their final move is going to be, what's going to win them the war, what people they will lose, which they will liberate. 

"Yup," Keith says softly, placing his hand against Lance's shoulder and Lance is grateful for the sudden steady comfort it brings him. 

"Did everyone make it?" Lance whispers, holding his breath as he waits for an answer. 

"What do you think?" Keith whispers back just as quietly and Lance can see him from the corner of his eye, his expression is slightly guarded, nervous.

"I think they did," Lance mumbles finally, his shoulders sagging because Keith keeping quiet probably means someone didn't. Could mean none of them except for him, Keith, and probably Allura made it through. 

"We all made it," Keith says finally, his lips pursing together. "I probably shouldn't tell you that but it's true. We all made it out alive. Somehow. Shockingly enough."

Lance breathes a sigh of relief at Keith's words, turning his head to look at him, pursing his lips together when Keith finally drops his hand and uses it to close the closet door instead. When he looks at Lance again he raises an eyebrow, waiting patiently, not saying a word in case Lance wants to speak. The fact is, though, that Lance doesn't know if he wants to say anything. Doesn't know what type of questions he can ask that will have an actual answer. Doesn't know if Keith is going to share anything at all about the things that matter. He doesn't know if he's actually serious about keeping him in this room for the next three days or  _whatever_. 

"I'm tired," Lance finally says, stepping back into the middle of the room. "Can you get me a sleeping bag or something?"

"Don't be silly," Keith says, rolling his eyes, a fond smile on his lips. "Just take the bed. I can sleep on the floor for a few days. It won't hurt. Besides, this mattress is from Earth and it's way better than those stiff mats we used to sleep in. You should take advantage of it while you're here."

"Earth?" Lance says quietly, brushing his hand over the surface of the bed, the word catching slightly in his throat because he had already resigned himself to the thought that he might not make it back at all. But now that he knew he would, now a surge of motivation came to him where he had been feeling discouraged before.

"Yeah," Keith mumbles quietly, dragging a sleeping bag from underneath the bed and unfurling it, snatching a pillow from the bed before Lance has a chance to react. "Do you want something to eat before you sleep? Time travel made you hungry?"

"Nah," Lance mumbles, shaking his head and tugging at the blankets firmly to tuck himself under them, pulling them all the way up to his nose, furrowing his eyebrows as he stares at the ceiling of the room. "You're really different."

"How so?" Keith asks, his fingers snapping, the lights dimming enough that they're in the dark but Lance can still see a soft glow coming from the walls.

"I don't know," Lance shrugs, knowing that Keith can't see it but might be able to hear him. "You're talking a lot more, you sound relaxed... happy."

"I am," Keith answers simply, his deeper voice still incredibly new to Lance.

"Am I happy too?" Lance asks, shutting his eyes tightly, afraid of the answer and wondering why he even asked Keith in the first place as if he would know.

"I think you are," Keith replies after a long silence and Lance can hear a smile in his voice, wants to ask about it but his eyes are drooping, body entirely relaxed in the soft mattress. The sheets smell clean, like they're fresh out of the laundry and they feel so soft against his arms.

_###_

When he wakes the next morning he's alone in the room, he tries not to panic as he buries himself deeper into the heavy blanket on top of him, curling himself as close as he can to the wall and hoping his hair in the future is still the same length as it is right now because if someone walks in they'll hopefully just think Lance is still snoozing and leave him be. Keith said that things could be altered if someone saw him and Lance was sure that whatever this future was he didn't want to change anything about it.

He's beginning to get impatient when the door suddenly lets out a soft hiss as it opens and Lance's shoulders tense but he forces himself to relax, to look like he's actually asleep. He's just about to bury himself deeper into the blankets, probably let out one of his whinny groans that he always does when someone tries to wake him up in the morning when a sudden scent hits his nostrils. His eyes widen immediately and he takes a loud sniff that whoever is in the room responds to with a snicker.

"Are you hungry?" Lance turns immediately when he hears Keith's voice, sitting up, the blankets pooling around his waist. "I mean even if you aren't I wouldn't pass up this breakfast if I were you."

"Uh..." Lance mumbles stupidly, looking at the plate Keith is holding with wide eyes, having a hard time believing what he's looking at. "Is that... bacon? Pancakes? _Orange juice_?"

"Yep," Keith says, his lips popping on the word, he offers the glass to Lance and Lance takes a tentative sip, sure it must just be some imitation of the food but instead he lets out a quiet whine when the liquid hits his tongue and he's sure that it definitely is orange juice.

When he looks at Keith again the latter is watching him with an exasperated and fond look, one corner of his lips curved upward slightly into a small smile Lance had only seen a few times before. It makes a nervous flutter set off in Lance's chest and he's sure his embarrassment is showing but Keith doesn't seem to mind. Instead he sets the plate down next to Lance after pushing that corner of the blankets to the side, handing him a fork, knife, and a napkin.

Lance doesn't hesitate on taking them, immediately digging into the pancakes which are drowning in syrup just the way he likes them, shoveling the food in his mouth as quick as he can, taking small bites of the bacon because _that_  he wants to savor a bit longer.

"How long?" Lance asks around a mouthful, watching as Keith moves around the room, watching him open panels on the wall and drag out boxes that are labeled with different year dates.

"How long what?" Keith asks, finding the box he's looking for and popping it open, digging inside of it for something.

"Until we get food like this back in the past, I gotta know," Lance says, his plate nearly empty, only one strip of bacon left and he's still nibbling at one.

"No spoilers," Keith snorts, shaking his head and pulling out a shirt from the box, giving it a shake to remove the dust from it and tossing it next to Lance, a pair of jeans following right after. "I think these should fit you."

"Oh, come on, man," Lance whines, grabbing the shirt and looking at it, snorting at the graphic of a cat saying saying 'not today' on it. "What's me knowing how soon we're going to get real food got to do with anything? It won't alter the future."

"I'm sure it won't," Keith says, leaning against the closet door once he's placed all the boxes back inside their panels. "But you might just go crazy with impatience and take it out on past me for no reason. _That_  wouldn't help the future."

"Psh," Lance snorts, finishing the last of his bacon and grabbing the jeans to inspect them, brushing his fingers over the tears on them that are definitely not from wounds. They just look that way. He likes it. "You'd have to be around for me to take it out on you and last I checked you were busy with the blade doing whatever."

"Yeah," Keith nods, the smile he had been wearing until then falling slightly.

Lance wants to ask about it, ask Keith about how he came back to Voltron, about what happened with the Blade, if he found out anything about who he is, if it was worth it leaving them like that. He wants to ask Keith if he got any satisfaction from it, if it changed him. _Something_  changed Keith. Lance can see it. And it's not just in the new hair color or the mark crawling up his cheek, or even the way he looks more relaxed. There's something more to all of this.

"Did Hunk cook this?" he asks instead, finishing up his orange juice as he waits for his answer.

"No," Keith huffs, crossing his arms. "I cooked it. You think I'm going to go bother Hunk for food way past breakfast to get him to cook like you always do?"

"I mean," Lance laughs, nodding his head. "Yeah. I would do it. Why wouldn't you? Are you not close with Hunk?"

"We're close," Keith snorts, taking the empty plate and glass from the bed, setting them aside on the desk. "Now that you've slept and been fed we should probably talk about some rules."

"Sure, dad," Lance rolls his eyes, throwing himself back on the bed and ignoring the groan that comes from Keith.

" _Please_ don't call me that," Keith says quietly and Lance turns to see him shaking his head, his eyebrows furrowed together. "That's rule number one. Don't call me that."

"Fine," Lance huffs, crossing his arms and squirming on top of the mattress. "I was just joking anyway. I thought you could take jokes now. You must be able to if you're friends with me."

"I can take a joke just fine," Keith says, grabbing the chair from the desk and turning it over, sitting on it with his legs crossed again as he looks at Lance. "Now, please listen. We need to make sur _e nothing_  gets messed up."

"I think you have it backwards," Lance says casually, turning on his side, leaning on his elbow, resting his head against his hand. "I'm pretty sure changing the past is what alters the future. Not being _seen_  in the future."

"Lance," Keith says quietly, giving him an unimpressed look. "You _are_  the past. Your interactions with people here, the things you see... all of it is going to alter the decisions you make when you go back. If there's something you didn't like you could take action to change it, and consequently change everything here. You could return to your time and all of this could be wiped, a completely different future could be waiting in the edges of every alternate reality to take charge."

"I guess you're right," Lance nods, turning to lay on his stomach, grabbing a pillow to pull it under his chin as he nods his head to Keith. "Alright. Lay the rules on me."

"Okay," Keith nods, his foot shaking slightly as he begins. "First off, we're in luck. We're landing shortly on a planet to visit them for some political stuff and everyone is going to be out of the castle and in the city to meet with officials and the people. I already let Allura know you caught a cold from our last visit to Earth and although she's not pleased she knows it's better if you rest."

"Why wouldn't she be pleased?" Lance asks, turning to look at Keith with a smirk. "Is she worried about me? Does she liiike me?"

"No," Keith says, rolling his eyes. "It's just that you're important in these meetings."

"How?" Lance asks, his stomach fluttering at the word _important_.

"People really like you," Keith says with a smile, leaning forward on his elbow. "Things usually go easier when you're around to make friends with all the politicians and their people. Kids are always flocking around you. It makes us coming to terms easier when they're all eager to see you again during our regular visits to ensure the peace is being kept."

"Wow," Lance says back, his voice quiet, his heart hammering in his chest at the thought of being important to people... er aliens. Of having the role of a type of leader.

"And you're also really, _really_ persuasive," Keith snorts, scratching at his cheek, rubbing over the purple streak on his jaw.

"You say that like you know from first hand experience," Lance sticks his tongue out, too comfortable to move from his position on the bed now.

"I think we've all fallen to your charms at least once," Keith shrugs, but there's an amused tint to his voice.

"What are the rest of the rules?" Lance asks, biting his lip.

"I'll have to be out there with them from time to time but no one will blame me if I come back to the castle during the nights to take care of you," Keith says, rubbing at a scuff on the chair. "I'm going to give you a phone we can communicate with so you'll know that you have to hide or run back to the room in case someone other than me is heading up here."

"Why wouldn't anyone blame you if you came to check on me?" Lance frowns, suspicious because it sounds like no one is questioning why Keith knows so much about what's going on with Lance. At least the Lance of the future.

"That's classified," Keith says with a snort.

"Why?!"

"It could change things," Keith answers, shrugging and kicking at the bed. "Pay attention. You don't have to ask a question every time I say something. Save it all for later."

Lance huffs, annoyed, but what else is new? He's always annoyed when Keith is involved. Still, there's so many questions floating around in his mind. A lot of them are about Keith, but he's also curious about Hunk, Pidge, Allura, Coran. He wants to see what they look like older, too. He wants to know if Hunk is okay, if he was ever badly hurt. Wants to know if Pidge ever grew any taller, if she let her hair grow out, if she wears it in a ponytail Lance can pull at because he's a jerk and that's how they play with each other. Wants to know if Allura even aged at all with her Altean blood, and if Coran is still as strong and enthusiastic as ever. Wants to know if Shiro ever stopped being so... strange.

He wants to know about himself. Wants to know what he looks like in the future, if he lost any limbs, if he has any new scars, if he's still taking care of his skin religiously. He wants to know what the quiznak happened to the Lance of the future because it looks like as soon as Lance appeared here the other Lance disappeared. Maybe they couldn't exist at the same time? Maybe that would traumatize Lance, if he actually got to see a version of himself in the future?

But he's sure Keith isn't going to answer any of his questions because why would he. He already made it clear he thinks everything will alter Lance's personal decisions over things that haven't even happened yet.

"Okay fine," Lance huffs, biting his lip. "So you're going to give me a phone... so that means I get to explore around. Any rooms you want me to steer clear from?"

"Just the control room," Keith says. "And everyone's personal rooms of course, yours included."

"Okay," Lance nods, disappointed that he won't be able to snoop like he was planning to but he figures he should listen to Keith. At least about the control room. No one could blame him if he accidentally tripped, opened the door to Hunk's room, and stumbled inside right? Accidents happen _all_ the time.

"The kitchen is packed with a lot of stuff you can make yourself," Keith continues, leaning back, his legs stretching out in front of him. "But Hunk is probably going to leave you containers full of chicken soup and other snacks so I doubt you'll have to worry too much. He ran straight to the kitchen when he heard you were sick."

"Aw," Lance sniffs, rubbing at the corner of his eye as he tears up slightly because it always touches his heart how much his best friend loves him. "That's my buddy. Say thanks when you see him, please."

"Yeah," Keith snorts. "I know it's going to be tempting but if you find a computer don't search up information about the universe, about Zarkon, or Lotor, or anything relating to Voltron. There's movies inside my desk drawer for you to distract yourself with if you get bored and there's always the training room. You have your Bayard, right?"

"I'm not working out these next few days, buddy, no way," Lance huffs, stretching and rolling over on his back, waving his arms above him. "This is my vacation from all the crazy."

"And if you're going to peek outside the windows, make sure you're at least covering half of your face," Keith continues, digging around his desk drawer and pulling out a mouth mask, tossing it to Lance. "People will notice you look significantly younger if you don't. You still got some baby fat on those cheeks of yours."

"Do not!" Lance says immediately, sitting up and squeezing his own cheeks with a frown, trying to feel the baby fat Keith is talking about. "Take it back. I'm smooth, sharp lines, and super manly now."

"No," Keith laughs, shaking his head and it makes Lance cringe slightly because he can't believe how much he likes the sound of Keith laughing openly like that. "Trust me, you're not."

"Do you have any pictures of me?" Lance can't help but ask, sitting up and grabbing the shirt Keith had given him earlier, looking down at the graphic of the cat.

"I do," Keith says and Lance looks up, finding Keith's expression slightly torn. "I don't know if I should show you a photo of yourself."

"Why not?" Lance asks, his head tilting to the side, shoulder drooping along with him. "Did something happen to my beautiful face?"

"No," Keith says, shaking his head, his smile returning. "No, nothing happened to your face. I'm just not sure if it will shock you. I imagine seeing yourself older might be a bit terrifying."

"Yeah, you're right," Lance sighs, scrunching his nose. "Guess I'll just have to let it be a surprise. But I bet I look like mi mama, people always said I was her exact image."

"I can see that," Keith nods, scratching at his hair, his eyes looking upward thoughtfully. "When I first met her it was a bit of a shock to me. The good kind, though."

"Huh," Lance mouths the word, not wanting to snap Keith out of his thoughts.

"Of course," Keith continues, his nose scrunching. "I'm really biased about everything when it comes to your family, you could say you look like little Elias and I'd probably agree."

"Elias?" Lance frowns. "I don't have anyone in my family named Elias. I mean my great-grandpa was named that but like... can people come back from the dead now?"

"Shit," Keith sighs, his head dropping into his hands. "No, no, nothing like that. I'm sorry, I said too much. But since we're here now Elias is one of your nephews. He's still a baby and really he looks a lot like his dad, but there's still some of you and your mom and your dad in him."

"Dude," Lance says, sitting up and stumbling over the bed, grabbing Keith by the shoulders to give him a shake. "Does everyone come with me when I visit my family? Oh my god... do I have any other nieces and nephews?? More cousins? Is my mama doing okay? How do you know so much about them? Tell me everything."

"I can't," Keith says, looking up at Lance, grabbing one of his hands to pull it away and give it an apologetic squeeze. "I'm sorry. I can't but... everyone is okay. Your family is growing a lot all the time, Lance. You're going to be really happy with them, I promise. That's all I can really say."

"It's okay," Lance says and he's surprised to find that he means it. "Honestly, it is. I'm just... really happy to hear some good news. I'm looking forward to seeing them one day. Getting to spend time together as a team with our families."

"Yeah," Keith nods, grinning a bit before there's a sudden beep coming from his jacket. "Ugh. I have to go, we're about to land. Just... remember what I said? Do your best to keep all your curiosity at bay, please. And if you need anything press your thumb against this icon..." Lance looks at the icon Keith is pointing out to, grabbing the phone that matches the one that was beeping insistently on Keith's other free hand. "It'll connect you to me right away. If I don't answer I'll call you back as fast as possible. I'll come back once all the meetings are over. Shouldn't take more than a few hours."

"Cool," Lance nods, hopping slightly on his feet as he starts to fiddle with the space phone. It's different from the one he has back in the past, it definitely has way more features but the thing is completely wiped of anything other than Keith's number.

He stops hopping in place when he feels a heavy hand on top of his head and he looks up at Keith from underneath it, raising an eyebrow at the look Keith is giving him. Keith doesn't say anything however, just ruffling Lance's hair once before he pulls away and walks out the door, his steps fading away slowly.

_###_

Lance knew what a quiet castle felt like. He was a bit too familiar with tossing and turning in the deafening silence of a palace that was too big and too empty. It was in moments like these when he would miss his family the most. Would miss their chatter in the morning and the voice of his parents trying to rush everyone to get ready and out of the house to their respective schools, or jobs, or whatever.

But it's different now. The longing in his chest isn't desperate because now he knows. He _knows_ that he's going to see them again. That it's just a matter of time until this war they're fighting ends and Lance can go visit his family and meet his new nephew and everyone else that he's missed out on since being taken to space. When he recorded his message to his family he had already resigned himself to thinking that that was the only way they were ever going to see him again but he was so relieved to hear that wasn't the case.

And he wanted _so_ badly to snoop. Wanted so badly to finally get out of the bed, put on the clothes Keith gave him, and go out into the halls of the castle to see what he could find. He could do with some more food, didn't actually mind that he would probably be eating foods meant to help with colds if Keith hadn't been lying to him about Hunk preparing him meals. He wanted to go to the control room and sweep through the map to find Earth in it once again but to know this time that he will make it back eventually. No matter how far away from it he is.

He does manage to rise from the bed, changing into clothes that fit him almost perfectly. The shirt is a bit loose but Lance thinks if he just built a bit more muscle it would fit better. After digging around enough he finds a pair of slippers he can wear. The floor is too cold for him to walk on it barefoot right now. He walks to the door but hesitates once he's in front of it. He knows that everyone is gone right now, out there to meet their intergalactic potential allies but a part of him is still afraid that someone will come back to castle for a thing they forgot, or maybe they were going to be heading out a bit later because they were using the bathroom.

"Keith would have already warned me," Lance mumbles quietly, his toes lightly tapping against the floor as he thinks for only a few seconds before he presses his palms against the door, pulling back when they open slowly for him. He squares his shoulders before stepping through the threshold, his feet immediately moving him along in the direction he thinks the kitchen should be. Keith had taken a few different turns when he guided Lance to his room but Lance knew most of the castle by heart now so it wasn't hard.

When he walked into the kitchen his eyes widened at how different it was. The panels where the goo dispensers were were still there but there was also so much more. A modern looking stove, the island in the middle of the kitchen covered in pots and pans, spice racks against the wall full of different jars and containers. Lance could smell oregano all the way from where he was standing, eyes widening when he spotted cloves of garlic hanging from the ceiling.

But there was something else, in a small table shoved off to the corner there were a few containers of stuff that still looked warm. Lance practically floated to it, pulling back one of the chairs and sitting down, admiring how cozy it all felt. He could imagine the entire team sitting around this tiny table during meal times, all of them sharing food, talking, laughing together. Lance had never really liked the long dining room table. He was always too far away from everyone unless Allura was trying to get them to bond by tying them together again.

He tugged lightly at one of the containers, smiling when he saw a sticky note pressed against the side. He grabbed it with greedy fingers, looking at the messy scribble and instantly recognizing it as Hunk.

"Hey buddy," the note read, making Lance grin. "Heard you were feeling a bit under the weather from Keith. I told you to put on a coat when we were out on the snow last week, but whatever. Make sure you eat everything I'm leaving here for you and drink as much water as your little body can handle. Love ya, man."

"Ah jeez," Lance laughed, hiccuping a bit, embarrassed at the fact that Hunk was taking care of him.

When he was finally full from the caldo that tasted just like how his mom made it for some reason, Hunk probably got the recipe from her, and after Lance had cried a little bit at getting a taste of something he had been missing since his days at the Garrison, he got up to leave the kitchen. He sucked on a water pack as he walked along the empty hallways, trying to find any differences but it must have been hard for them to attempt putting up pictures against the smooth walls of the castle. Lance knew that if he hit it with a bat nothing would happen to them, but he might just smack himself in the head with it himself.

That was when he came across one of the first rooms. The door was wide open, the inside of it messy and Lance immediately recognized it as Pidge's room. She was never one for keeping things tidy, too many things running through her mind at once for her to bother with picking up her trash and clothes. It was honestly a miracle that she kept Green clean but he thinks that might just be because Green would nag her like crazy if she didn't.

He wants to go inside but he only gets as far as the door, grinning at the little souvenirs she still has from the past and admiring the others she's collected as time has gone by. There's a picture of her and Matt on her messy desk and thanks to his amazing eye sight he can see her clearly on it. She looks a bit taller, but only by three inches or so, her face has lost all the baby fat and made way for smooth lines, the glasses she always wears still tucked against her hair but cracked. He wonders how that happened.

Wind is blowing through her hair that is a bit longer but not too long, and she's wearing jeans and shirt so casually as she stands in front of... Lance steps inside when he sees the background of the photo, thinking desperately that he _recognizes_ that beach. Recognizes the shack behind it, and the slope of the land behind her. He doesn't get too far into the room before a bot pops out from underneath a mess of blankets, blinking at him angrily with red lights and buzzing the word "Intruder" over and over. He covers his face quickly and turns on his heel to leave the room as the bot floats after him, a click and flash going off furiously, taking pictures of him.

Once he's out of the hall Pidge's room is in the bot finally turns around, floating back to her room peacefully as if nothing happened. He gasps as he leans against the wall, pressing a palm against his chest, trying to calm his wildly beating heart from both the shock of seeing the photo, and from being chased by a bot that probably managed to get a few good pictures of him. Keith was going to _kill_ him. He did one of the first things he was asked not to do. And there was photographic evidence. Which Pidge might show to Keith... or Lance in the future. He really hopes he doesn't forget that detail once his older self pops back into existence.

"I already broke one rule," Lance mumbles a few minutes later as he approaches the control room, his eyes wide as he stares at the doors that look bigger than ever now that he knows there's files behind it. Files that hold the answers to everything that's going to happen in the next seven years. What's going to happen to them, how they're going to defeat the Galra, what happens _after_  they win the war.

He's about to press down against the door to open it when he hears a loud roar in his ears, freezing him in place, his hand only centimeters away from touching the door. Tears spring up to his eyes and he sniffles because he _recognizes_  that growl.

"Blue?" he asks, turning around, his head snapping from side to side and he feels a light push against his mind, making his knees buckle slight before he rights himself up. He feels her digging around in his mind curiously, a warning still in the back of her overwhelming excitement to see that it's true, that he wasn't lying and she really gets to see his younger self once again. "Do I even keep secrets?"

 _Not from us_  he feels the words against his mind, wrapping him up fondly, making him think of Keith and Red and and Blue all at once.

"I don't get it," Lance mumbles, shaking his head, his feet getting ahead of himself as he starts to make his way to Blue's hangar. "Why is Keith so important in this future? He's a jerk. Well... okay, maybe not a jerk but he's busy with the Blade, we haven't seen him in so long. What changes?"

 _Secret_  Blue says smugly, her thoughts becoming clearer to him as he gets closer and closer to the hangar. When he finally pushes inside he's flooded with excitement and happiness and it makes him bounce once on his feet before he's running to the lion. This lion that for once doesn't have a barrier around her, protecting her from anyone who isn't her paladin. He touches the paw he stops in front of lightly, petting it lovingly as he feels just as much affection returning to him.

"I'm tired of that word," Lance says to her, climbing the paw so he can sit atop it, not even blinking as Blue lowers her head to rest it next to her paw, her eyes glinting with their usual light. "Everything that's happening right now is a secret. I don't get it. Wouldn't it be better if I knew everything? I could nudge all of us in the right direction."

Blue doesn't say anything but he can feel her meaning anyway as she starts to prod around inside him again, trying to brush through the memories Lance hasn't really thought of as important right now. The meaning gets through him anyway. He doesn't have to know the future to be able to do that. Lance will help more than anyone when it comes to taking the steps to go in the right direction.

"I don't know," Lance mumbles, hugging his knees as he leans his body against Blue's cheek. "I've been feeling a bit useless. Shiro doesn't let me get a word in, ever. And Allura is busy trying to learn more about her alchemy. Things just keep changing and I feel like I'm stuck behind everyone all the time, you know? I mean, I'm the Red paladin. I should have a say in some of this stuff, don't you think? It means I should be Shiro's right hand, doesn't it? Not just literally, but also emotionally and all the time."

 _Like with Keith_  Blue hums and Lance can practically visualize her nodding even though she doesn't move an inch.

"Yeah," Lance huffs, fiddling with one of the loose threads on his jeans. "Like with Keith. We communicated better. At least until he decided to start being flaky and leaving us hanging so he could go out on his own missions. Whatever."

 _You're so young_  he feels Blue wonder, her amusement at his words for some reason and he scoffs, crossing his arms as he turns to press his back against his cheek instead.

"Well, sorry I can't give you the level of maturity future Lance has," Lance huffs, sticking out his tongue and laughing along with her when she does her version of a snort at his words, widening his eyes when he sees a flash of a memory of him from now, his arms crossed petulantly as he turns away from Hunk's teasing. "At least I'm still handsome."

Lance spends the next few hours trying to convince Blue to spill the beans to no avail, he keeps asking her how they can talk now, why she isn't shutting herself out from him anymore, whether he's her pilot again, or if they can all communicate with all the lions now, maybe that's some new ability they haven't been able to unlock yet. He's about to ask her about Shiro when he feels a buzzing and beeping coming from his jean pocket.

He pulls the phone from inside and glances at the screen, looking at Keith's name on it for a few more rings before he answers it, watching the small hologram of Keith's face curiously as it appears.

"Oh," Keith says, laughing slightly. "I forgot how you looked."

"Offense," Lance mutters, rolling his eyes.

"Where are you?" Keith says instead, raising an eyebrow.

"With Blue," Lance replies, scratching at his temple. "I guess I lost track of time, sorry. Are you coming back?"

"Ah," Keith nods, his head going out of view as he looks behind him before he turns back to the screen to look at Lance. "Yeah, I'm about to head back. Are you doing okay? Do you want something from here?"

"What?" Lance laughs, shaking his head. "Dude, I don't even know where you're at. I don't know what I can ask for."

"Well," Keith mumbles, looking a little put off as his lips twist from side to side. "There's a few things from this planet Lance enjoys. Maybe you can get a sneak peak at them... Uh, see you in a few."

"Sure," Lance snorts, pressing down on the button again before Keith has the chance, ending the call himself. He turns to Blue with a raised eyebrow as he slides down her paw, landing on his feet with a soft thud, turning to pat her a few times gently. "I guess duty calls?"

Blue doesn't say anything else, instead he just feels a bit of her longing, and pleads that he comes back to visit her one more time before he has to go away again, before he goes back to the past where they have a mission to complete and can't be at peace until it's over. He sighs softly as he thinks on her thoughts before nodding, promising he will try, laughing when she shows him her first memory of him. "Hey, you're the one that fell for my charms."

Keith comes back with what looks like a bag of cheese puffs. Lance stares at them, slightly disgusted, grabbing the bag Keith offers him anyway and opening it to look inside. He sniffs once and decides the smell is neutral enough for him to give it a shot. Just so he doesn't hurt Keith's feelings and ignore the effort it must have taken him for him to interact with living beings to get a hold of these... things.

"You'll like them, trust me," Keith says to him, giving him an encouraging smile before he turns to dig through the bag he brought, setting aside a few items. "I brought you some other stuff too from Lance's room. His skin care stuff, and the eye mask he still insists on wearing to sleep even though I'm sure he's going to choke on it one day."

"If you know you're wearing it you're aware of it even in your sleep, Keith," Lance says, rolling his eyes. "There's no way I would choke, I've gone years wearing it apparently."

"Whatever you say," Keith says, rolling his eyes as well and looking at the bag and then at Lance expectantly. "Eat it."

Lance feels just a tad disgusted as he grabs one of the orange balls from the bag, surprised at the fact that it's not slimy the way it had looked and pulling it to his mouth to take just a small nibble. He narrows his eyes but soon stops when the taste suddenly explodes in his mouth. It's spicy, but too much, and savory like the treats he used to eat back on Earth. Hunk had never liked the processed chips from his childhood but this is exactly what that taste reminded Lance of.

"When we're not on Earth," Keith says, turning away from Lance to dig through his closet. "And you don't have easy access to your favorite snacks, this always cheers you up."

"Huh," Lance mumbles through a mouthful, sitting down on the bed and kicking his feet as he continues to eat.

"Yeah," Keith mutters, turning finally with a fresh black shirt, grabbing the sweats Lance had worn the night before again and tossing them to him. "Here. Get showered and dressed for bed. I'll go warm up some of the food Hunk made for you. I'm sure you're hungry again. What did you get up to today?"

Lance furrowed his brows, grabbing the clothes and hugging them to his chest as he backed up to the bathroom slowly. "I talked with Blue," he says, reaching for the handle of the door to open it in case he wants to make a quick escape from Keith."

"I bet you lost track of time," Keith tells him, not missing a beat as he gets to work on tidying up the bed as well and Lance can't help but think that all of Keith's actions are... disgustingly domestic. Like he's just used to doing all of this for Lance, like he always has a set of clothes ready for Lance, like he always makes sure he's eating, or that he's sleeping well, or that he's showered. Like he's always dragging his stuff to his room so that Lance can slather himself with skin care products.

"Yeah," Lance says back simply instead, nodding before slipping inside the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.

As Lance is pulling his new set of clothes after the shower he pauses when he hears some muffled speaking through the other side of the door, pressing his ear against it in an attempt to listen more closely to Keith's words. As they start to become clearer Lance thinks he's crazy. He has to be. There's no way that's Keith speaking in the back, no way. Just, impossible.

"Todo esta bien," Lance hears Keith say, his voice heavy with laughter. "Eh... un poquito enfermo, pero ya sabe como es, bien dramatico." (Everything is okay. Eh... he's a bit sick, but you know how he is, so dramatic.)

Lance purses his lips tightly, pressing his ear closer to the door, still having a hard time believing that that's Keith on the other side but also totally offended for his future self. He is _so_  not dramatic.

"Hunk le hizo el caldo de pollo," Keith continues in a soft voice, laughing at something the person on the other side of the phone says. (Hunk made him some chicken stew.)

"What the fuck..." Lance whispers softly to himself, glancing in the mirror before pinching his skin to see if this is really happening.

"Perdio su voz," Keith says, laughing and clearing his throat. "Pero tan pronto que ya pueda hablar yo le digo que le llame. Si... mhmm mm. Si ma, cuídate, nos vemos pronto." (He lost his voice. But as soon as he gets it back I'll remind him to call you. Yes.. mhmm mm. Yeah ma, take care, we'll see you soon.)

"Ma?" Lance mutters, rubbing down on his face quickly when everything goes quiet on the other side of the door. "Is Keith secretly Latin???"

When Lance stomps out of the room Keith jumps slightly on his chair, true to his word he already has food on the desk for Lance, and it's all steaming, and it smells _so_  good but that isn't going to distract Lance from what he wants to ask Keith.

"Are you secretly Latin?" Lance asks him, pointing a hand a him. "You were just speaking Spanish, weren't you? With your mom?"

"My..." Keith's eyes widen, his head shaking. "You know my mom is Galra."

"Then _who_  were you talking to, Keith?" Lance asks, crossing his arms, the towel wrapped around his head drooping to the side.

"No one," Keith says.

"No te hagas el menso," Lance says to him, watching Keith's face go from neutral to miffed immediately. "Aha! You were speaking Spanish!" (Don't act like you're dumb.)

"Callate, estupido," Keith says to him, standing from the chair and walking up to Lance with narrowed eyes. "And erase it from your mind because this isn't something you're supposed to know." (Shut up, stupid.)

"As if," Lance says, scrunching his nose. "You don't scare me. You're not going to do anything to me if you want the future to play out the way it does. Which, by the way, looks like I'll be a huge part of according to vague stuff Blue was saying to me! So... there!"

"Whatever," Keith says, and suddenly he doesn't look twenty-five anymore. He looks like the Keith he remembers, huffy, annoyed, unable to say more than just a single word to try and dismiss a whole argument.

"I know you're hiding stuff from me, Keith," Lance says, pushing past him to sit down on the desk, grabbing a spoon immediately to stir his rice around inside his stew. "You should just tell me because I'm going to find out. One way or another."

"Is that a challenge?" Keith asks, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah," Lance says back to him, sticking out his tongue before he digs in.

It's not until Lance is tucked in the bed, nearly falling asleep, Keith on the floor next to him in his sleeping bag that he realizes it. He sits up with a gasp, pointing down at Keith who opens one eye to look at him, his face completely neutral.

"You were talking about _me_ ," Lance says, his eyes wide in the dark, his heart hammering against his chest. "You were talking about me with my mom and... and _you called her mom, too_!"

Keith's eye immediately shuts, his eyebrow twitching slightly, his lips curling downward into a frown. He doesn't say anything, ignoring Lance as the latter starts to mumble to himself in rapid Spanish. "No lo puedo creer, no lo puedo creer." (I can't believe this, I can't believe this). A thought keeps nagging in the back of his head but he ignores it, shoving it down along with things he hasn't wanted to think about since Keith left with the Blade.

"Keith," Lance says, laying back down, his voice breathy.

"Are you done?" Keith asks, his voice annoyed, upset.

"Keith," Lance says again instead, shutting his eyes, scooting all the way against the wall as his eyes shut tightly, trying to remember the way Keith looked. "Remember that one time when I was helping you clean Black?" Lance doesn't expect a reply and he hopes it's because Keith is just trying to comb through the many times he's helped him with something like that. "Back when Shiro was gone. Remember how we were talking about a bunch of stuff, and then love came up, and then I told you whoever I marry..."

"Lance," Keith says with a sigh and Lance can hear some resignation in his voice.

"And I said... I said I _hoped_ they would try to learn my language too?"

"Yeah," Keith says finally after a long silence.

"Is this what's happening right now?" Lance asks, unsure if he's afraid of the answer or eager for it.

Keith doesn't answer and Lance sits up only to find Keith is doing the same. He looks at Keith and he can't help but think, _he can't lie to me,_ realizing suddenly that even as he tried this whole time, these two days that Lance has been here there's always honesty behind every single one of Keith's actions. He kept trying to be secretive, trying to not give anything away at least verbally but he had failed in every other way.

"It's not," Keith says to him but the words are dull and empty and Lance only feels slightly hurt at his denial but he knows there's a reason for it.

"When do you come back to us?" Lance asks, his voice shaky.

"I can't tell you that," Keith says, pursing his lips together. "It should be enough just knowing that I do."

"Do I have something to do with it?" Lance says, wrapping his arms around himself, letting the blanket drop around him.

"Everyone does," Keith says, and there's honesty to that. "But Lance it won't be--"

"Hey guys," another voice says from the other side of the door, muffled but Lance would recognize the scratchy texture of it anywhere. He jumps and in the blink of an eye Keith is on the bed with him, pulling the blanket over Lance's head and tugging Lance firmly against his broad chest. "Can I come in?"

"Uh, yeah," Keith calls out, the door hissing open after he does. Lance grips onto Keith's shirt tightly with his hands, keeping his head low, forehead pressed against Keith's neck to stop himself from taking a peek because he knows if he does then Hunk will be able to see him too. "What's up?"

"Oh, is Lance sleeping? My bad," Hunk's voice drops to a whisper and Lance can hear him fiddling on the other side of the door. "I just wanted to check on him. And I have a lot of questions about stuff that's coming up. You know the deadline seems far away but it's fast approaching. I don't know, I guess I'm just stressing. I want this to be perfect for you guys."

"Hunk," Keith says, and Lance feels him turn slightly. "Don't worry about anything. Everything is going to work out just fine. Lance is going to love it no matter what. You could show up with frozen pizzas from the convenience store and he would be excited."

"Don't say gross things like that, Keith," Hunk says, laughing slightly. "But... thanks. It's just a big day for all of us, y'know? You two getting married, on Earth, with like a bunch of people all around and I mean that's gotta be a big deal at least to you."

Lance let's out a soft squeak at the word _married_ , gripping Keith's shirt tighter, holding back a scream. Keith's previously relaxed body tenses slightly but Hunk doesn't seem to notice because he just keeps going on and on about the menu and whether or not Keith thinks Lance would like it more if all dishes had unique names, side-note: he would, and about how he hopes he can find a staff that will help the day of.

"Well," Keith mutters, grabbing Lance firmly by cupping the back of his head, keeping him pressed against his chest, silently asking him to not move. "We can talk about it once the visit here is over. Besides Lance is sick so that means grumpy. You wouldn't want to deal with him with stuff about this right now. He'll become a groomzilla."

"Mmff!" Lance tries to object, the sound muffled by Keith's skin.

"I guess you're right," Hunk says, giggling slightly after. "Man, am I glad you're the one he ended up with. Imagine if he had fallen for someone with a love for flair like him? This wedding would have a lot more glitter than it already does. You helped tone it down a bit."

"If that's what he wanted I would let him have it," Keith says, brushing his fingers lightly over the back of Lance's hair.

"You sap," Hunk laughs. "Well, I'll let you be. Tell Lance I said get well soon when he wakes up."

Keith only hums in response, his fingers still threading lightly over Lance's hair. Lance feels _hot_ suddenly, breaking a sweat on his armpits and neck, heart hammering wildly against his chest as he thinks about everything that was just said. About what's happening right now. As he feels Keith's hand still stroking over his hair before it stops and Keith pulls away, laying on his back. He swallows a few times, pressing his hands against his cheeks in an attempt to cool down but it's no use. He's burning up with information, with possibilities, with sudden plans flashing before his eyes because somehow... Somehow he's going to marry Keith seven years in the future.

"You lied about why you can speak Spanish," Lance finally manages to say.

"You know what's crazy?" Keith asks, tucking his arms behind his head as he stares at the ceiling. "All of this already happened to Lance. This moment is going for you exactly as it went for him. I was worried this whole time that you finding out about us was going to ruin everything, make the universe explode or something. But everything is still okay."

"Keith," Lance mumbles quietly.

"What?" Keith asks, the word gentle even when it shouldn't sound that way.

"I realized I liked you before you left for the Blade," Lance tells him, turning so his back is facing Keith. "I resigned myself to the fact that I was never going to tell you because the mission you are fighting for is more important. And because I knew that you could be gone... Like gone gone... Gone forever in a second. I knew that. And I know it's the same for me. I know I could go out to battle with Red and in the next thirty minutes I might not be alive anymore but now..."

"Now?" Keith prompts him quietly.

"Now I've seen that's not true," Lance says, a tear dragging down the bridge of his nose to his cheek. "Now that I know you're coming back someday... How am I going to hide what I feel now?"

"Lance," Keith says quietly and Lance feels that comforting weight of his hand against his hair again. "It's okay. Everything is going to work out the way it's supposed to. The decisions you're going to make are already there. They are happening right now to a you that's living in another time. And you're still here. And I'm still here. I still feel the same. I still know Lance is my fiance. I still know that he's my family."

Lance can't help the tears that begin to fall in earnest then, his shoulders shaking as he tries to hold back sobs, relieved when Keith scoots closer to him to hug him by the waist, his free hand brushing down on his hair soothingly.

"Keith," Lance hiccups, rubbing his eyes to wipe away the tears. "Do you love me back quickly?"

"Lance," Keith laughs, his breath tickling against the back of Lance's neck. "You don't have to worry about that. I've loved you since the moment I met you. I guess I was just waiting on you, hoping that you would love me too."

"You _are_ a sap," Lance laughs, hiccuping slightly.

"I'm just honest," Keith says quietly, but Lance can hear the smile in is voice anyway.

"I want to talk about this more tomorrow," Lance says, turning his head to look at Keith with narrowed eyes, sniffing once.

"I'll only tell you the basic stuff," Keith snorts, pulling his arms back and sitting up. "You're going to sleep now? Finally??"

"Yeah," Lance smiles, nodding and pulling up the blanket around him again once Keith is back inside his sleeping bag, scooting closer to the edge to stare down at him as he lays flat on his back, eyes shut. "I only have tomorrow left, right?"

"I think so," Keith says quietly, nodding once.

"Where did you get that mark?" Lance asks, hugging a pillow under his chin, his eyes still wide open, looking at Keith shamelessly.

"It just showed up one day," Keith replies with a yawn, rubbing at the mark against his jaw.

"Does it hurt?"

"No."

"How did you learn to speak Spanish?"

"Pidge coded a program," Keith sighs, opening his eyes and turning his head to look at Lance. "It helped a bit, but it was mostly you. We started off with the insults of course."

"Like what?" Lance laughs, kicking his legs underneath the blankets.

"You used to call me idiota all the time," Keith huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. "Eventually it was other stuff, like... pass me the potatoes, or tengo frio." (I'm cold.)

"I do get cold easy," Lance mumbles, trying to imagine himself peppering Spanish in between his conversations with Keith. He thinks it's something he would definitely do on purpose to try and get Keith to learn his language.

"You just wanted hugs," Keith scoffs, sticking out his tongue at him.

"Ey," Lance scrunches his nose, shaking his head. "No way."

"Lance knows Korean, too," Keith grins, raising an eyebrow. "But... you don't. At least not yet."

"So?? I don't care about that," Lance scoffs, pushing his face further into the pillow, rolling his eyes.

"Sure you don't," Keith mumbles, and Lance sees as he closes his eyes again, a small smile on his lips. "When you feel comfortable enough with me, when you go back..."

"Mhm?" Lance hums, his eyes shutting as well.

"Call me jagiya," Keith says, a chuckle following after.

"Whatever you say, idiota," Lance mumbles sleepily.

"Aish."

_###_

The next day Lance isn't surprised to find he's by himself. He sits up on the bed, scratches his arms a few times, looking at the set of clothes folded neatly on the desk and gets up to pull them on. He's sitting on the cozy table at the kitchen again when he comes to the realization that he's taking all of this rather well, the fact that he's engaged to Keith somehow, that they've reached a sort of peace, that he gets to see his family regularly. He can't shake the feeling that all of this was meant to happen from the very beginning.

As he makes his way back he can't help but sneak a peek into every room he finds, grinning at the familiarity of everything inside Hunk's room that still screams Hunk. Some of the personality to it is different but Lance can still see the Hunk he knows at the core of it all. He finds Coran's room, snorting at the pictures he still hangs proudly of him and King Alfor. Allura's room is plain with small decorations placed carefully around. Flowers a recurring theme, along with maps and dozens of pens that look well loved.

When he finally rounds back to Keith's room he steps inside carefully, looking at the desk that Keith was always sitting on whenever they were talking during the night. He pulls back the chair to look into the drawers, shuffling around papers that are either blank or have strange doodles on them. Nothing too personal. He huffs as he glances around, looking at how plain everything in Keith's room is as well. There's no way they're already rooming together because if they were Lance would have already made the place a bit more lively. That must mean he only crashes here when they feel like spending the night together.

The thought of that makes him blush, scratching his nail against his chin subconsciously because he remembers last night when Keith was holding him to hide him from Hunk's view. Remembers how even though he wanted to scream at the words he was hearing he also felt oddly comfortable in Keith's embrace. Could see himself spending hours like that while they talked. And then later on when he had cried, feeling Keith's presence near him had soothed him like nothing had since they left Earth.

That and because he knows spending the night together when you're lovers doesn't just mean cuddles, and long conversations, but also physical intimacy. That's something he's going to have to worry about once he meets with Keith in the past again.

When he turns away from the desk he catches sight of the closet that Keith is always messing with to find him clothes and he runs to it, opening the door and looking inside. Most of the clothes are dark, and definitely not his style but there's a section to the side with items Lance could see himself wearing. Soft jackets and hoodies, loose t-shirts and comfortable looking jeans. He brushes his fingers over them, gaze drifting upward when he sees _it_. The box. The chest that Keith had hidden away from Lance with the excuse that it had war secrets inside but after the night before Lance was starting to think it might be something else.

He only has to lift himself on the tip of his toes slightly to reach the box, tugging it forward until it falls into his arms. When he sets it down on the desk he attempts to open, grunting with effort when the lid won't budge. He sits down in front of it after, grabbing it with both hands to twist it around, looking at it closely in an attempt to find somewhere to input a code when he finally remembers. He runs his thumb lightly around the edge of the chest, sure that if Keith has access to this thing through his fingerprint or something then that means he should have included Lance in on it too.

Sure enough, the chest glows dimly along the edges and when Lance attempts to open it this time it pops open easily. He grins, pumping his fist in the air once before immediately digging inside the chest. The first few objects mean nothing to him, little trinkets that he can picture himself buying and hoarding but nothing too life changing. That is until he reaches the bottom of the chest and finds a stack of photographs held together by a paperclip.

The first one is a picture of Lance with his family, there's babies in the arms of a few of his family members and he grins at the thought that they kept growing even while he was away. Pleased with the fact that he's helped protect them too. Pulling off the paperclip he flips to the next photo, nearly crying when he sees a photo of him cuddled up to his mom, his cheek squished against the side of her neck, tears on both of their eyes.

The nature of the photos change after that. Then it's his other family, Voltron. Them at a festival, playing at a beach, in the cart of a Ferris wheel, eating together around that cozy table. Then it's just him and Keith, sticking their tongues out at each other, holding hands as they stare into a sunset, photobooth strips of them doing something silly, wearing silly props that even Keith looks like he's enjoying wearing, holding each other close, their foreheads pressed together, even a kiss. Lance swallows, stuck on that particular image. They both look the way Lance does now, young, maybe only a year or two older. Keith already has that mark on his cheek but he looks _happy_ and Lance looks happy too.

He's about to pick up the stack of photos again when his phone starts to beep insistently against his pocket. He curses quietly as he rushes to shove everything back into the chest, answering with one hand and looking at the hologram of Keith.

"Oh, hey, buddy," Lance says, his voice shaking slightly as he keeps shoving things back inside, groaning when one of the bobbleheads inside falls to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Keith asks suspiciously, narrowing his eyes, probably hoping he could see past him.

"Nothing!" Lance practically screams, setting down the phone and bending down to grab the bobblehead, dropping it inside the chest.

"Lies," Keith says and Lance glances at his little figure glaring at him, he's about to reply when the line cuts off and the door hisses quietly, signaling that it's about to open. Lance gasps, shutting the chest quickly and running his thumb along the edge of it in the hopes that it will lock again quickly, that Keith won't know what he just did.

"Oh, hey, hey!" Lance shouts, laughing and standing up quickly, looking to Keith as he comes in. "What's... what's up."

"I knew you would go around snooping," Keith scoffs, shaking his head, walking past Lance to grab the chest and tugging at the lid to see if it will open. "Did you see anything you weren't supposed to?"

"Nope," Lance says, shaking his head, turning away to hide his reddening cheeks, remembering what he did see.

"Somehow, I don't believe you," Keith sighs, pushing the chest to the very back of the desk, turning to Lance with a raised eyebrow. "Whatever you saw, you better forget it. Quickly."

"I didn't see anything, Keith, I swear," Lance scoffs, crossing his arms, staring at floor. "Are you always this bossy? Do you nag this much all the time? I can't believe I like you if you're like that always."

"Well, believe it because you do," Keith snorts, ruffling Lance's hair and pinching his cheek.

"How are you so unbothered by all of this?" Lance asks him, scrunching his nose at Keith. "It's like you don't even care. Don't you feel weird that you're doting on a _teenager_ right now, Keith?"

"Pfft," Keith snorts, covering his mouth with his free hand as he flicks at Lance's earlobe. "Not really. I guess I am being a bit affectionate but I'm not... into you."

"Wow, thanks," Lance mutters, looking away.

"I mean," Keith continues, leaning back to sit on the desk, his legs crossing. "When I look at you I just think about when we were younger, when Lance and I were just trying our best to learn how to be a couple, to learn how to stay alive. I see the expressions you make, and hear the way you talk, and the sound of your voice right now and it reminds me of everything that I already lived through. Obviously I love Lance," Keith says, showing Lance his hand and the ring on it. "And that means I love you. But you're not for me. For one thing, you're too young. And next, I know myself and if I actually tried anything I would be so jealous tomorrow. Of _myself_."

"Sap," Lance says again, sticking out his tongue.

"And I think you would probably be jealous too," Keith snorts. "Maybe you've just been waiting for this moment to take it out on me, if anything did happen. Which it won't. Because you're a child."

"I don't even want it," Lance fights back, kicking Keith's foot. "Stop! Like I'd share my first Keith kiss with Keith from the future."

"Don't think about it too much, please," Keith sighs, kicking back at Lance's thigh, the shove light and playful. "If you do, if you go back and expect me to be what I am now you'll just grow to resent me."

"Is it going to be hard?" Lance asks, plopping down on the bed, reaching for one of the snacks Keith brought him the night before and scooting as far as he can into it, pressing his back against the wall.

"Sometimes," Keith hums, his legs swinging back and forth. "I'm not... great with people. I'm better now but still not quite as social as you are. Meeting your family was a bit of a nightmare the first week."

"What happened to make it easier?" Lance asks, tilting his head.

"You..." Keith takes a deep breath, looking at Lance through narrowed eyes. "I'll tell you just because I'm afraid you won't do that you did."

"Wow," Lance laughs, nodding and tossing one of the snacks at Keith, winking when Keith manages to catch it. "I love your faith in me, boo."

"Shut up," Keith snorts, tossing the orange ball back and forth between his hands. "You left with Marco and Luis in the middle of the night to give them a ride on your lion and when I woke up to screaming children and music blasting loudly through the house you weren't there to tell me what I was supposed to do."

"Oh uh," Lance mumbles, his eyes wide because he _knows_ what screaming children and music blasting loudly means.

"Yeah," Keith says, unamused. "I hadn't even put on a shirt before your mom busted into the room and threw a broom and a mop at me. Demanding in very quick Spanish for me to get my lazy ass up and go help clean the house. It was... kind of terrible at first until I saw everyone was helping each other even if they were grumbling. Your mom was having the time of her life though, dancing around, telling the kids what to do and making them do it again if it wasn't perfect."

"Keith, buddy," Lance starts but he can't stop the giggles coming out.

"And the worst part was that when we were done, and everything was sparkling from how clean it was, your mom and I left to grab groceries for the rest of the week and when we came back--"

"The mess was back to how it had been that morning?" Lance snorts, letting the bag drop.

"Yeah," Keith laughs, rubbing his face a few times. "I really couldn't believe it but your mom didn't seem upset. I think she was satisfied just knowing it had been spotless at least for an hour. She asked me to help with the cooking, I was a bit useless but she was very patient, and she started to speak slower so I would understand what she was saying. She hasn't said a word to me in English since the day I met her. I appreciate that, really, it helps keep me in practice. And I really really love her too, so making that effort is worth it."

"I'll make sure to leave that night," Lance says, smiling and scooting back to the edge of the bed, jumping up. "Hey, let's do something! I think I'm leaving tonight, right? We might as well have some fun. Is the pool still upside down?"

"Coran hasn't cracked the code, yet," Keith sighs, nodding. "Still upside down."

"Well, what else is there to do in the future?" Lance asks, walking to the doors and opening them with a press of his palm.

"We have a game room with different stuff," Keith says, following after Lance before dropping into step with him. "A movie theater basically, I mean if it fits inside the castle why not, right? The training room too but you already said you don't care for that."

"But do we have popcorn?" Lance asks, looking just a bit up at Keith. "Hey, are we the same height now?"

"Nah," Keith huffs, shaking his head. "I gained two inches but you still got at least a full inch on me."

"Good," Lance nods, rubbing his nose. "This whole looking up at you business is annoying."

"We have popcorn," Keith says with a roll of his eye, walking ahead. "We keep it at the theater, so, come on. We can try to find a movie that's come out on Earth but you haven't seen yet."

"I'm going to memorize it so I can win a bet against you about how it ends," Lance says, waiting as Keith opens the door to the theater and steps inside with his eyebrows raised, letting out a low whistle. "When you said theater I just thought you meant it was a big screen but this is literally..."

"Yeah," Keith laughs, walking to the middle of the room where a smaller screen is located, swiping his finger through it as he scrolls over the movies available.

"These seats are insane," Lance says, walking to one of the seven seats scattered around the theater, crawling inside the one at the very back and stretching over it. "Is this for two people?"

"Yeah," Keith calls out, selecting a movie before he walks off to the side again, pressing a button, the smell of popcorn overwhelming suddenly.

Lance gets comfortable, sitting up as the lights start to dim, snorting at the fact that the movie even has previews that were voiced by them. He's nearly bending over with laughter as he hears Hunk's voice over the trailer of a movie about cooking, grinning at Keith when he comes by with a tub of popcorn for Lance and a drink before he takes a seat next to him.

"So yeah," Hunk's voice says over the speakers. "This guy, I mean, he's not great because of this scene we get a peek of here, yeah, where he like flirts with a lady he isn't married to even though he has a child. And I guess the point is that while we watch this movie you just have to remember that no matter how sick his grilled cheese looks, and no matter how good the cubanos are, uh, he's still terrible."

"This is gold," Lance mumbles through a mouthful of the popcorn, nudging at Keith with his elbow.

"What?" Keith's voice says over the speakers and Keith groans, covering his face with both hands. "I haven't seen this movie yet."

"Just talk over the trailer, honey, stop being a partypooper," Lance's voice replies and Lance pulls the popcorn over his face to hide his reddening cheeks.

"Okay, whatever," Keith's grumpy voice follows, becoming clearer as he gets closer to the microphone. "These two guys are, you know lifeguards, and it's a story about them. They run in slow motion a lot, it looks like. The younger looking one has like a life crisis, maybe... looks like. And the bald one is just trying to relieve his youthful days."

"Like Shiro," Lance's voice says.

"Sure, like Shiro," Keith agrees and they both snicker over the trailer as they hear Shiro's offended gasp.

"Um, at the end we'll probably find out that they somehow saved the world, so make sure you come by with your entire family-- Oh, wait no. This is not for children. They save the world from drugs... Make sure you come by with all your adult family to watch this movie," Keith continues. "I don't know, it might be fun."

"That was great, babe," Lance's voice says over the speakers when the screen goes dark.

"It was pretty good," Lance says next to Keith, snorting before he shoves his hand back in the popcorn tub, shoving a few into his mouth. "You're funny, Keith."

"Thanks," Keith groans, finally moving his hands away from his face, looking at the screen as the movie finally starts up.

"Keith," Lance says quietly when the movie is nearing its end, tilting his head to look at him as Keith does the same. "I know you can't tell me when you come back. Or how you come back but... when you finally do, do I--"

"You won't waste any time," Keith says, smiling a bit shyly, reaching over to wrap his arm around Lance's shoulder and pull him against his side, ruffling his hair with the hand of that same arm. "It might not happen in a while, but just... do your best to get a hold of me."

"Okay," Lance agrees, nodding as he leans his cheek against Keith's shoulder, completely at ease. He's about to reach into the tub of popcorn again when he sees it, his fingers translucent, a soft glow taking over them. "I think time's up."

"I think so, too," Keith agrees quietly, giving Lance a squeeze. "See you soon, babe."

Lance grins, tilting his head up to look at Keith and snorting at the wink he gets. "Yeah, see you in seven years."

_###_

"You sly dog," Lance says suddenly, voice different, body filled out, and Keith only has enough time to blink before he's looking down at Lance. _His_  Lance. "What a flirt. I can't believe you."

"I didn't even do anything," Keith protests, grabbing the popcorn tub from Lance's hands and throwing it to the side as he grips Lance's chin, pulling him close.

"I remember everything, Keith," Lance says, his voice doing an excellent job at sounding offended but the smile on his lips betraying him.

"I missed you," Keith says, closing the distance between them, pressing their lips together softly.

"Yeah, me too," Lance breathes out, settling against Keith and turning to look at the screen.

"Where did you go?" Keith asks, his thumb rubbing gently against Lance's shoulder.

"I honestly feel like I just took a really long nap, I don't know where I went," Lance says with a shrug.

The door to the theater suddenly snaps open and both Keith and Lance jump, scooting backwards as they see Pidge stomp inside, she looks around wildly, her hair swinging with her before she finally spots Keith and Lance on their usual seat.

"Explain this!!" She yells, running over and shoving a photograph over Keith's face, rubbing another one over Lance's cheek.

"What, what is it?!" Lance asks, miffed as he snatches the photo and looks at his, his eyes widening.

"What?" Keith asks, confused as he grabs the photo in front of him as well, looking at it with a resigned sigh. "I told you not to go snooping."

"Yeah well," Lance says, snorting at the photo of his younger self and the shocked expression he's wearing, flipping to the next of him running away from Pidge's bot. "You should have known I wouldn't listen to you."

"Explain, you freaks," Pidge says, crossing her arms and they both look up to her, their expressions neutral. "Why do you look so young?!"

"I look great in the lighting of your room," Lance says with a grin. "It really shaves off a few years from my face. Don't you think, jagi?"

"Sure does, babe," Keith replies, nodding and tucking the photo into his jacket.

"You jerks," Pidge says, huffing and glaring at them before she turns away to stomp down the theater steps once more. "Don't go in my room again when I'm not there, Lance!"

"Alright!" Lance shouts back, laughing as he leans back on the seat again. "Man, I love the future."

 _###_  

When Lance opens his eyes again he's back in the control room, he stumbles slightly in his step but rights himself quickly, fingers brushing over his paladin armor that he's suddenly wearing again. He lifts his arms to inspect them, trying gather his bearings before there's a gasp from the other side of the room.

"Guys!!" Hunk shouts, standing as he runs to Lance. "He's back! Lance is back!"

"How long was I gone?" Lance asks, laughing as Hunk sets him down from his bone crushing hug.

"Um, like almost three days," Hunk says, twisting Lance around as he looks over him. "You're not like some clone that replaced Lance, right?"

"Nah, buddy," Lance grins, shaking his head. "I'm the real thing."

"You smell like popcorn, dude," Hunk says, hugging him again as the rest of their friends start to come into the room.

Lance licks over his lips slowly, still tasting the salt and butter on them, his tummy still full. It's comforting to know it wasn't all just a giant fever dream inside a healing pod. 

_###_

When Lance finally comes across Keith by himself, nearly a year later, he can't help but smile at where they are. He looks around the hall once, approaching Keith as the latter stops, eyeing Lance warily. Lance walks up to him, stopping only when they're in front of each other, tucking his hands into his hoodie pockets as he eyes Keith up and down.

"What?" Keith asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you want to take a walk?" Lance asks with a smile, taking one more step so he's only inches away from Keith, looking down at him with purpose.

"Uh..." Keith's eyebrows furrow, but only for one brief moment before he nods. "Yeah. Sure."

"I have something to tell you," Lance says, grabbing Keith's hand without a warning, pulling him down the hall, in direction of the observatory.

"What is it?" Keith asks, his fingers curling around Lance's hand as well, voice light.

"It's about how I feel about you."

 

It takes a month before Keith is finally comfortable, no longer surprised at Lance's touch, or the things he does for him. But it's okay because Lance knows that Keith is going to be way more caring than Lance could ever be. Knows that Keith will take initiative to do everything in his power to make sure their relationship sails smoothly, to get in touch with what makes Lance Lance.

A whole month of Lance trying to convince him that he's not going anywhere and that even if he does slip and flirt a little bit it never means anything because Keith is a constant in the back of his mind.

"Why?" Keith asks, letting Lance press him against a wall, looking up at him with narrowed eyes.

"Why what, babe?" Lance replies, tugging gently at Keith's hair, stopping himself from leaning down to steal a kiss.

"Why did you tell me now?" Keith asks. "Why did you wait until then?"

"I couldn't handle the thought of you leaving again, Keith," Lance says quietly, swallowing once. "You belong here. With us. With me."

"I wasn't going to go," Keith tells him, his arms moving around Lance, hugging him closer.

"That's good to know," Lance laughs, pressing their foreheads together before pulling Keith into a hug as well, resting his chin atop his head. "But tell me why."

"After everything..." Keith says, his voice muffled underneath Lance. "When I stepped into the castle, it felt like... like home. A weight fell off my shoulders, I wanted to cry. And I saw everyone on my way inside. They all stopped me to talk. And then we found each other somehow, in that hall."

"Mhm," Lance hums, giving Keith a squeeze.

"And you told me how you felt," Keith continues. "And I just knew."

"Everything is going to turn out just right, jagiya," Lance says, looking down at Keith and snorting at his red face.

"Where did you learn that word?" Keith asks, stuttering slightly.

"I heard you say it while you were napping the other day," Lance shrugs innocently, lying through his teeth. "What does it mean?" He already knows.

"Uh..." Keith mumbles, pushing Lance away and walking past him, fanning his face. "It has a lot of meanings."

"What type of meanings?" Lance laughs, following after Keith, wrapping his arms around him from behind, chin resting against his shoulder as he nuzzles into the side of his neck.

"Just... pet name meanings, stop," Keith huffs, turning his head away.

"You know this is just giving me more room, right?" Lance grins, nipping at his skin.

"Aish!" Keith shouts, trying to pull away from Lance's tight grip before finally giving up. "I can't believe I love you."

"I love you, too," Lance laughs, giving him a squeeze.

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first klance fic i've finished. i'm quite happy with it. i hope you guys enjoyed it too. 
> 
> i'm mexican so if some of the way they're talking doesn't sound right to my cuban friends i apologize and would love some corrections?? translations right after because it must be a drag to scroll all the way down to see what someone is saying for my non spanish speaking friends. also, jagiya basically means honey/sweetheart/etc in korean
> 
> Hunk is talking over the movie Chef (2014) and Keith is talking over Baywatch (2017)


End file.
